, but now they have. The FBI and the U.S.
attorney's office for Washington announced on October 17. 2008, that they are
investigating, "

The
activities of the bank, its leaders and others to determine if
any federal laws were violated.”

Washington Mutual’s Failure Under FBI Scrutiny

October 17, 2008 -
Federal authorities are trying to figure out the reason behind
the collapse of Washington Mutual Inc. (WaMu). It is
investigating the causes which led to the banking operations
being sold to JPMorgan Chase and Co. last month.

A task force has been created by the office of U.S. Attorney
Jeffrey Sullivan. This team has investigators from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp., the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal
Revenue Service.

Sullivan said, “Due to the intense public interest in the
failure of Washington Mutual, I want to assure our community
that federal law enforcement is examining activities at the bank
to determine if any federal laws were violated.”

“Given the significant losses to investors, employees, and
our community, it is fully appropriate that we scrutinize the
activities of the bank,

its leaders, and others to determine if
any federal laws were violated”, added Sullivan.